19 April, 2011:
This is Scott Patch reporting for our Everest Tibet Dispatch this 19th ofApril
2011. We are currently still at Advanced Base Camp (6409 meters) were today we
enjoyed a beautiful Puja Ceremony. The Puja Ceremony is a important piece of
our climb. During the ceremony we ask the Goddess of the mountain Chomolungma
to guide us and grant us safe passage for our brief visit. We offer the
goddess gifts of food, drink and candy for her blessing. We also place our
climbing gear (crampons, ice axes, etc.) on the stupa and ask them to be
blessed for our upcoming climb. The Puja was a beautiful and festive occasion
despite the strong winds and snow that have hit us over the past 24 hours. All
tents are holding up fine except our toilet tent which we might lose at any
minute ... it will get real interesting if this occurs!!! Frostbite in those
regions won't be fun!!! Tomorrow, if the wind and snow subside, we plan to
climb to the North Col (7000 meters) and come back to ABC. Much depends on the
weather for us over the next few days. Everyone is in great spirits.

17 April, 2011:

Ed Buckingham
Tibet Member, aiming to become the first Cornishman too climb Everest. I
was fortunate too climb with Arnold Coster in 2005 on Cho oyu. This is
our third day at ABC. Today we got too wear our high altitude boots,
crampons, ice-axe and harnesses. We went down onto some nearby ice-fall.
The point of the exercises was too learn some techniques that could be
used higher up the mountain. We practiced climbing up with the jumar and
ice-axe. Once getting to the top we rappelled down on a nearby line.
Once we had all done that an obstacle in the form of a knot was put
halfway up the rope. This time we climbed up and after putting safety
and jumar above the knot, put a figure of eight in and rappelled back
down the line. We are all doing reasonably well though coughing a bit
from this mornings exercise. ABC camp is beautiful with a good view of
the North Col and the top of Everest. A few groups are moving in today
but it is not over crowded. On a personal note I am enjoying moving up
the mountain slowly, slowly and am looking forward too climbing up to
the North Col and higher. The group seems well mixed and get along
pretty well. I would just like too say a big hello to Dad, Mum, Chris,
Becs ,Mia and Jessica. Much Love, Everest Ed

16 April, 2011:

This is Biff Palmer providing the update for the Everest Tibet climb.
Yesterday the team climbed from the interim camp at 19000 feet to the
advanced base camp at 21000 feet. Today is a rest day so as to continue
the acclimatization process. In this regard our bodies have been
challenged with a progressive reduction in the amount of inspired
Oxygen. Some of the changes that have occurred include a reduction in
plasma volume resulting in concentration of circulating hemoglobin. This
hemoconcentrating affect along with increased hemoglobin production
result in an increase oxygen carrying capacity. In addition our red
blood cells have an increased affinity for oxygen. In future updates I
can continue to comment on the physiologic changes that occur with
sojourn to altitude. At the current time all members are healthy and
strong. The team has been playing a card game each night called UNO. I
have held my own in this intense competition. I am anxiously awaiting
some cokes and sprite to thaw to so as to enjoy some flavors of home. I
wish to conclude by sending my love to my daughter Kelly and my son
Robert. I love and miss them both very much.

April 14th dispatch from Eric Platenberg:

All is well for the entire team as we spend this day acclimating at 'interim
camp' as we make our way to Advanced Base Camp. Our interim camp is located at
19K ft/ 5800 meters. Our camp is much more rustic than base camp, but still
quite comfy compared to how we imagine it will be higher on the mountain. We
spent last night and much of this afternoon playing Uno and having spirited
discussions about music, movies, and places to live. Patch's stories continue
to provide non-stop entertainment and shaking heads. No-one slept
exceptionally well as we are adjusting to lower levels of available oxygen and
chilly temps at night. But spirits are high though-out camp and everyone is
remarkably healthy considering our surroundings. As we left base camp there
were only two other teams settled into for the climbing season. It is
estimated that there will be a total of 20 teams climbing from the North this
season, so we anticipate base camp to look considerably different when we
return next week.

13 April, 2011:
After a cold windy start this morning in base camp, we reached interim camp at
about 5800m The route follows the glacier moraine and is never very steep nor
flat. It's a quite sustained 5 hr walk to get here. The camp is located near
some big ice pinnacles. If the sun hits them at the right angle they turn into
a nice blue colour. This is also the place where most yaks stop on the way up
or down from either base camp or ABC. Our tents are surrounded by yaks and we
will probably hear their bells all night! Samdien our cook prepared a
delicious meal for us. This man keeps impressing me all the time. In the
kitchen tent our cookboys prepared a stone bench for us with a table, so we
were even able to sit comfortably. After dinner we played a couple games of
UNO...always fun! Tomorrow we will rest here, otherwise we will gain altitude
to fast, so probably more UNO.....

Earlier:

12 April, 2011:
Today our yaks arrived in base camp to bring our loads to Advanced Base
Camp. First all individual loads had to be weight, more than 150 pieces of
kitchen equipment, food, climbing gear and personal gear from members and
staff. A total weight of 2400kg! Then the argument started of which yak is
going to carry which load and so on.... This took a couple hours, but
eventually all yaks left base camp together with our climbing Sherpa's and
some of our kitchen staff. They will prepare interim camp at 5800m and
Advanced Base Camp at 6400m for us. All members and I will move up the
mountain to interim tomorrow, where we will stay here two nights. Then we
move to Advance Base Camp at 6400m. We have to move slowly to give our
bodies time to get used to the high altitude. The early stage of
acclimatization is crucial, it's like a foundation of a building...if this
is strong and solid you can build whatever you want on top! Last night we
watched another movie in Base Camp, my small projector seems to be a big
hit!This is it for now, more news from interim camp. Arnold Coster,
expedition leader

11 April, 2011:
Tomorrow we expect our yaks to carry our expedition gear to interim camp at
about 5800m, then the following day they will move on to advanced basecamp
at 6400m. We will be one day behind the yaks and some of our staff, so we
will not be in their way preparing the camps for us. We will leave for
interim on the 13th, stay there for two nights and then move on to ABC.
Below is a dispatch written by Dom, cheers Arnold Coster exp. leader....

Hello from Everest Base Camp Tibet at 5200 metres. It's Dom here writing
the latest report on the teams activities. We have been in Base Camp a
couple of days now after our dash across the Tibetan plateau from the town
of Tingri. We are all now trying to fall into expedition life at Base Camp,
setting up our tents to make them as comfortable as possible with blankets
and plenty of snack food from home. The food is great with our head chef
putting together some great dishes and even making an effort for the two
vegetarians in the group! The group is getting on well and with Everest
directly in front of us it focuses the mind of the task that lies ahead. We
walked down to the monastery today where a Lama gave us the blessing for the
climb, everyone left feeling that it was a positive experience. Arnold has
managed to set up a projector from his laptop so last night we were watching
movies on the big screen! I did not think that I would be doing that at
basecamp, but it's a great way to pass the time and hang out together. We
move on up the mountain the day after tomorrow to Interim Camp where it will
no doubt be a lot colder, as on Franks thermometer it registered -21
degrees centigrade last night! I'll leave it there for now as I have to pack
my things to be sent up to Advanced Base Camp. Just to let you all know that
we are having a few issues with sending general emails at the moment so
hopefully it will be sorted out soon, something to do with the solar panels.
This is Dom signing out from a windy base camp in Tibet.

9 April, 2011:
After an early start we arrived in base camp today at around 5200m. We took
an off road shortcut from Tingri. This road zig zags through the mountains
behind Tingri and finally ends up in Everest Base camp. This is a really
remote area with only a few small villages, but to our surprise all of a
sudden a couple Tibetan men on horseback showed up! The people look wild;
they look like some warriors from the Ghengis Khan era. They wear big yak
fur clothing with nice decoration on their heads. After passing the Rongbuk
Monastery we got a full view of Everest or Chomolungma as people call her
here. Our kitchen staff, which came from Lhasa yesterday, already pitched
all the tents and quickly served us a delicious meal. Samdien our cook
really knows what we need! In base camp we have a full kitchen setup, a
dining/leisure tent, each member has his own personal tent and there is a
tent to shower and a toilet tent. The next couple off day we will spend
relaxing and making small day hikes to get used to our new elevation. Also
we will visit the " Lama" a Buddhist priest in the monastery to get his
blessing for our expedition. We probably will move up to in trim camp on the
13th of April, this will be the next step up in our approach of Chomolungma.

8 April, 2011:
After an early start in Kathmandu we crossed the border easy at Zhangmu. The
TMA (Tibet Mountaineering Association) arranged three nice Land cruisers and
a truck for us. After a delicious meal at their Base camp restaurant they
drove us straight to Tingri at around 4400m. The journey through the narrow
canyon to Nyalam is very beautiful, doesn't matter how many times I drive
this. Then all of a sudden the canyon stops and you are in Nylam where the
Tibetan plateau starts. Here it looks like you are on a different planet,
there is hardly any vegetation, but still the Tibetans manage to grow
potatoes and Barley somehow. The colors in the earth are fascinating and the
snow covered peaks in the distance make it even more spectacular! We arrived
in Tingri late in the evening, where another nice Chinese meal was waiting
for us. Today we are just relaxing wandering into town and enjoying the
views. Our cook Samdien should arrive today in Base camp with our supplies
from Lhasa and we are all looking forward to meeting him tomorrow afternoon.
So tomorrow we will be at the foot of the mountain, the next couple of days
we will spend hanging around in camp, making our " new home" as cozy as
possible. It's also possible to make small hikes to explore the way to the
next camp..This is it for now,

Arnold Coster, Expedition Leader

Earlier:

Everest expeditions commence 29-Mar-11

29 March, 2011

Today is the first day of our spring climbing and walking season. We are in
Kathmandu and all of the members are arriving. Tomorrow is the big team
briefing at the Kohinoor Hotel. It has been raining here in Kathmandu, which
is good as it keeps the dust down and puts water into the reservoirs. If all
goes well, we plan to fly to Lukla on 31 March. Please wish us luck. Thanks
for following our expedition teams in Nepal and Tibet!

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